


Space Christmas

by Konochuu



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Fluff, Homesick Lance (Voltron), Klancemas 2019, Klancember2019, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance's sweaters are made out of good boyfriend material, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:13:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21959431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Konochuu/pseuds/Konochuu
Summary: There, outside the window, were Allura and Coran. Hacking at a tree. Oh, now they were dragging it across the ground, leaving a noticeable trail in the snow. They caught sight of Lance staring at them through the window. He motioned for them to hurry up. Coran jumped and looked around himself wildly. He dived behind the tree trunk and laid in the snow. Allura panicked and sat on the trunk and twiddled her thumbs.•×∙─────────∙◦✖◦∙────────∙×•❄️Lance learns it's December back on Earth and decides to throw his team a surprise Christmas party!❄️
Relationships: Allura/Shiro (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	Space Christmas

Lance smacked against the ground with a grunt. He sat up and rubbed the back of his head. “Geez, mullet, you could hold back a little, you know!”

Keith smirked and held out a hand to pull Lance up. “You’d only complain about that, too.”

Lance scoffed, but allowed himself to be helped up.

“Want to go again?” Keith asked, Lance’s hand still tight in his grip.

Lance’s fingers twitched against the warm leather of Keith’s stupid gloves. He fought to keep his face neutral and was absolutely not blushing, no way, nuh uh. “N-no, I told Shiro I’d make sure Pidge got some sleep. The only reason that little gremlin is still up is because I couldn’t pass up a chance to beat you.”

Keith smirked again and dropped Lance’s hand. “Right. See you later than.”

Lance pointed at him as he backed away out of the training deck. “Don’t look so smug, mullet. I _let_ you win!”

Keith sniggered. “Really? You _let_ me throw you on the ground?”

“I can’t hear you over your mullet!” Lance called from the hall as the door swooshed shut. He still managed to see Keith shake his head with a smile, and Lance felt himself smile too as he strolled to the lounge where Pidge was stationed.

The whole team was exhausted from the intense training Allura had them do the past week. That and the stress that mounded from a strange lack of Galra activity had everyone on edge. Lance had thought about asking Allura for a vacation to a nice planet with a beach, but he doubted she’d agree.

Lance bit his lip. The stress was getting to everyone, especially Allura. He wanted to help, but at this point he wasn’t sure she’d really listen to him. As Lance neared the lounge the tapping of Pidge’s keyboard drifted down the hall.

Despite Shiro’s attempts to get her to sleep after she’d fallen face-first into her food goo during breakfast, Pidge had refused.

Now as Lance entered the lounge and saw Pidge slouched over her laptop, nose nearly smooshed against the screen, he regretted assuring Shiro he’d get the little gremlin to at least take a nap.

Lance sauntered over and draped himself over the couch next to her.

“I’m not sleeping.” Pidge deadpanned without a look towards Lance.

“Oh, come on!” Lance squawked as he turned onto his stomach to glare at her. “Do you really want another goo facial? Because — that… actually might be nice,” Lance trailed off in thought. He shook his head. “What are you even doing?”

Lance scanned the screen. The usual hundreds of different tracking, scanning, and translating programs were open, but what caught Lance's eye was a calendar thing.

At least, he thought it was some kind of weird calendar, maybe?

There were boxes for days he thought, but loopy lines ran through some with weird symbols in the corners of others.

Pidge noticed where Lance's gaze was and pushed her glasses up her nose. "It's an Altean calendar. I transferred the application from the holopads and tried to decipher it." She said quietly. "I figured it'd be good practice for learning Altean. Not to mention that it's helped me write a program that can look for patterns in how other ali—"

"Okay, okay, okay, Pidgeotto. So, does that mean you know what day it is? On Earth?"

"Well, sort of. Alteans don't exactly track time the way we do. Their years seem to be made up of sixteen months, but some of them are a lot longer than others. I figured it was because of the seasons, so I asked Coran. He said the shortest, 'Grecuvell', was — well, it was basically the Altean equivalent to rainy season."

Lance quirked an eyebrow. "Don't tell me... falling rocks?"

Pidge chuckled. "Yep."

Lance groaned and flopped his head into the cushion. He hesitated, then asked, "So, you do know what month it is on Earth? And how long we've been gone?" His voice was muffled by the couch, but he didn’t lift his head.

Lance heard Pidge’s fingers slow to a stop. "Not exactly. It's only an estimate, but… I think we've been gone about a year and a half. By the looks of the Altean calendar... I'd say it's sometime in December? I'm pretty certain it'd be winter by now, in any case."

Lance got lost in his own thoughts for a bit, but rose and flung himself into Pidge’s lap and refused to get up until she agreed to take a nap when he remembered why he was there in the first place.

She struggled underneath him, her tiny feet jabbed repeatedly into his back, but eventually Pidge huffed and collected her things and shuffled to her room in silence. She shot scowls at Lance that reminded him painfully of Nadia, but he only smirked at her as Pidge shut her door in his face.

Lance figured she’d still be awake when he came to check on her later, but at least in her room Pidge would be comfortable if she passed out again. Lance wandered the halls, not sure what to do with himself.

They'd been gone a year. Over a year. Nearly two if Pidge was right and it's December. And Pidge is always right....

Two years.

Lance knew they'd been gone a while, but—

"Ack! Ow! Watch where you're going, mullet!"

Lance glared at Keith, who mimicked him as he rubbed his forehead. He had a towel around his neck and his hair pulled into a low ponytail that Lance absolutely did not find superultrmegaho—

"Me? You watch it! You're the one who ran into me!"

"As if I'd walk into your greasy mullet on purpose!"

Keith scoffed and mumbled something that sounded like ‘always the mullet’. He made to move past Lance, but stopped and stared, a crease formed between his eyebrows.

Lance raised an eyebrow with what he hoped was a dull look and tried to push down the blush that rose in his cheeks.

"You wanna lose again, or something, mullet head?"

Keith didn't say anything. He stared at Lance a moment longer, then asked, "Are you... okay?"

Lance's eyebrows shot to his hairline. "Um? Yeah?" he lied.

Keith blinked. "Oh, you just... I-I mean, you looked... bad?"

Lance screwed up his face. He opened his mouth to retort, but Keith stuttered, "N-not like that! I mean you look upset!"

Lance knew what he meant. It just felt strange to have his rival show concern for his wellbeing.

Especially when he was all sweaty.

And that sweat dripped down his neck.

And collarbone.

And his bicep flexed when he dabbed the towel at his face.

And distracted Lance with his stupid, pretty, dark, concerned eyes.

“It’s nothing, mullet,” Lance said quickly and stuck his hands into his pocket with a glance around the hall. “I’m just… tired. I can’t come up with a way to get Allura to go easy on us.”

“Oh,” Keith said, the crease between his eyebrows still present, but less pronounced. “Well, I’m sure you’ll come up with something?” Then he patted Lance awkwardly on the shoulder, paused, and dashed away before Lance could register the pink that flooded his face.

The encounter left Lance off kilter as he stumbled through the halls without an idea of where he was going or what he was doing. 

Did he —?

Was that —?

Did Keith —?

“Ah, Lance, m’boy!”

Lance turned his head to see Coran beaming at him from where he stood in the stasis bay, rag in one hand and a bottle of Altean cleaner in the other. “Brilliant timing! You can assist me with the rest of these pesky pods!”

Lance gripped the rag Coran handed him numbly as if his head was full of cotton. The up and down motion of scrubbing the glass of the stasis chamber helped Lance collect himself. 

_Okay, so Keith just gave me a friendly little pat. Nothing weird. Except he ran away right after. And it’s Keith. Keith who would gut anyone like a fish if they tried to touch him. Keith. Keith Kogane. Star pilot who only lets Shiro get close to him._

Lance could see the blush in his cheeks reflected in the pod’s glass. He scrubbed harder. _Okay, yeah, that was kinda weird, but good?_ Keith was just trying to show concern.

So what if Lance couldn’t really feel the warmth of Keith's hand through his coat?

That didn’t matter to Lance. Not one bit.

And so what if Keith could tell Lance was upset? Hunk could have too. It doesn’t mean the light, warm feeling in Lance’s chest means anything. Nope. Nada.

Hunk could make Lance feel that way too!

Like the time he’d come over to Lance’s house for Christmas with cookies he baked with his grandfather and stayed inside with Lance to watch movies after Lance hurt his knee when he slipped on ice…

“Lance, m’boy?” Coran asked quietly.

Lance started and realized he’d stopped wiping down the pod. He caught sight of his reflection and started to clean it again. “Lance,” Coran rested a gentle hand on Lance’s wrist. He ducked his head to catch Lance’s gaze and asked, “What’s wrong, m’boy? Feeling homesick again?”

Lance let out a heavy sigh and dropped his hands from the pod. “Well, yeah, but it’s — it’s more than that…”

Lance recounted his conversation with Pidge; how they’d apparently been gone for nearly two years now, his fears of what his family thought happened to him and if the Garrison covered up their disappearances like they did to Shiro…

“And it’s just,” Lance sniffled and wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his coat. “It might even be _Christmas_ , and I missed it!” He cried. “Luis and Lisa might have even had another kid by now! They were talking about it… I — I just wanted to be the, the _cool_ tio, you know? I-I’d made plans to knit Nadia these cute little booties this year and, and a tiny sweater for Silvio because he’d been getting sick lately….”

The back of Lance’s throat burned. His nose was runny and his eyes scratchy from his jacket sleeve. “A-and the team’s been so stressed lately… I just…” His throat closed up and he faltered.

Coran rubbed Lance's back and waited for him to continue, but when he didn’t Coran said, “You miss your family. I understand. I miss my family… Allura is all I have left.”

Lance sniffled again, but he felt a little better. “It’s not that I don’t like it here — I love Blue. I love protecting people, and I love you guys — I just…”

“You miss your home.” Coran said quietly. “There’s nothing wrong with that. I miss Altea.”

The minutes passed in silence after that.

Coran stroked Lance's back and murmured tales of his family while Lance’s quiet, stifled sobs slowed to a stop. When Lance recovered, Coran asked, “You mentioned… Crismis? That is an Earthling holiday, I take it?”

Lance sniffed and let out a laugh. “Yeah, Christmas. It’s really nice. You give gifts to each other and eat cookies…”

Coran hummed and twirled his mustache. “Well… why don’t we have it here? In the castle?”

Lance’s eyes widened and he stared at Coran. “Here? With everything going on?”

Coran smiled and stood. “It is as you said, we are all stressed. I’m sure the Princess could be persuaded to relax for a single quintant.”

Lance snorted. “Shiro’s the one who needs to be persuaded to take a chill pill.”

“I’m not sure what kind of Earthling medication he needs, but I could attempt to create a substitute. In the meantime however, why don’t you accompany me to the bridge? You can tell the Princess and me how to celebrate this,” Coran squinted. “Cristmas. Did I say that right?”

Lance tilted his head back and laughed.

  
  


•×∙─────────∙◦✖◦∙────────∙×•

  
  


“Crizmiz?” Allura repeated shrewdly.

“Cristmiz,” Coran corrected.

“ _Christmas,_ ” Lance said. “It’s a holiday. Santa brings you gifts if you’ve been good and you leave him cookies.”

“Who is this ‘Santa’?” Allura asked.

Lance smiled. “He’s this big guy in red that’s always watching you,” Lance held back a laugh at the surprised expressions on Allura and Coran’s faces. “He knows when you’ve been naughty and nice and comes down your chimney to leave presents under the tree, or coal in your stockings if you have a mullet like Keith.”

“I-I see,” Allura said. “And you think it would be a good bonding exercise for Voltron?”

Lance and Coran nodded enthusiastically.

“Hmm… well, I don’t see why not. What would we need to celebrate this, Lance?”

“We’d need a tree, and decorations, and lights, and presents,” He listed off.

“Well, I suppose we could travel back to the ‘space mall’ as you call it. Would that suffice?”

“Yeah! Don’t worry, princess. I’ll get you something shiny.” Lance grinned and winked.

Allura rolled her eyes. “And the tree?”

Lance blinked. “Well, I guess any would do. Oh! Are there any snowy planets around that we can go to? We have to have a snowball fight!”

Coran pulled up a hologram of the galaxy they were currently in. “Well, none here it seems, but I believe there was a planet near the mall that would be rather cold around this time.”

Lance pumped his fist in the air. “Don’t worry guys, I got this!”

He sped towards the door, eager to get started on the idea that just popped into his head when he skidded to a halt. “And uh, guys? Can we… keep this between us? I kinda want it to be a surprise.”

Allura and Coran smiled at Lance and nodded.

“Between us.”

  
•×∙─────────∙◦✖◦∙────────∙×•

  
  


It had been difficult, but Lance managed to find the materials he needed in various unexplored rooms in the castle.

He’d spent the next week or so holed up in his room knitting sweaters. He’d thought of knitting a lion on each sweater, but didn’t know how and wasn’t sure what he’d put on Allura’s and Coran’s.

Because he wanted it to be a surprise, when the team asked him if he was alright he lied.

It was hard to keep it up; he could only take so many worried looks from Hunk before he broke.

Not to mention Shiro’s almost hurt expression when Lance wouldn’t tell him what was going on, and Keith’s little pout when Lance declined to train with him.

While he was busy, mealtimes were when the team saw Lance.

He and Coran shared secret grins then and when they passed in the halls, but when Lance would wink at Allura and she’d smile instead of rolling her eyes the team started to become suspicious instead of concerned.

Keith would glance between the two of them as a frown deepened on his face, and Shiro would quirk his eyebrows but remain quiet.

Pidge couldn’t care less, but Lance was happy to see she’d been sleeping more lately.

When he’d finally finished all of the sweaters Allura informed him they’d set their plan in motion in a few days.

“You will deliver these supplies to the Uryonins, Paladins, and remain there for a few quintants. After the last attack they faced, they require Pidge’s and Hunk’s expertise in fixing some of their ships.” Allura said.

“Are those the same aliens Nyma was?” Hunk asked.

Keith scoffed. “Guess we know what Lance will do the whole time.”

Lance opened his mouth to insult Keith’s hair, but Coran interrupted him. 

“Negative, number four. Number three must remain here on the castle! I need his help recalibrating the pods self-cleaning program.”

Lance bristled. “Wait — there _was_ a self-cleaning program this whole time! Why didn’t you tell me!?”

“Well, why do you think I’ve needed your help cleaning them? It hasn’t been working!” He said cheerfully.

Lance crossed his arms and grumbled. He couldn’t tell if this was true, or if it was just a lie so Lance could sneak away to the space mall, but either way, Lance resented those pods.

“If that’s what you think is best, Princess.” Shiro said.

Allura nodded. “Indeed. After you have completed your mission, we will be traveling here,” She pulled up a hologram of a snowy planet. “Hrimsa.”

“Has there been a distress beacon?” Shiro asked seriously.

Allura’s eyes widened. “Ah, no! It… is — uninhabited! You’ve all been working so hard lately, I thought it best we find a place to relax for a bit!”

Lance mentally face palmed himself. That was… it didn’t _sound_ like a total lie, but he knew the team would be more suspicious now. 

Shiro blinked. “I… see. Thank you, Princess.” He smiled.

Allura blushed and continued telling the team what they’d need to do on Uryonin.

Afterwards, she and Coran pulled Lance aside.

“You’ll have a few quintants to prepare the holodeck while the other paladins are away, m’boy. What else can we do?”

Lance peered over Coran’s shoulder to see the others starting. Quiznak.

“I’ll tell ya later.”

The next few days as they neared Uryonin had Lance sneak around the castle. He’d asked Coran if there was any paper around and while they both searched in places there was likely to be some, Allura kept the team busy with details on their mission. At night Lance attempted to make tiny sweaters for the space mice.

After Lance gathered as much paper as he could find he waited for the rest of the team to go to bed and met Allura and Coran in the kitchen. The three of them sat at the table and Lance showed them how to cut out snowmen and snowflakes.

“We can stick these on the walls for decoration!” He exclaimed.

In the end there wasn’t many. Allura’s and Coran’s looked a bit wonky, but they’d enjoyed themselves, so Lance was happy. He showed them how to draw the faces on the snowmen and told them what carrots were and about Frosty the snowman while he worked on making a snowflake banner.

Allura and Coran looked impressed as Lance stretched out the finished banner. “My sister Rachel use to make these all the time when she was a kid! I wish it was longer, though.”

Lance wanted to make more decorations and banners, but they were running out of paper and Allura kept yawning, so Lance called it a night. He finished the mice’s sweaters and thought to look for more paper at the space mall if he could.

The next day they were in orbit of Uryonin.

“You will fly down in your lions. In the meantime, we will travel to the space mall.” Allura said during breakfast.

“Aww, what? You guys get to go to the space mall?” Hunk whined.

“Not to worry, number two. I’ll just be heading down to stock up on ingredients. I know how you all love my grandfather’s Hyithrek recipe!” Coran held his hands over his heart.

Hunk said nothing.

“Wait, you get to go down to the space mall while I calibrate those stupid pods?” Lance squawked and held back a smile. 

“Yes!” Coran winked at him.

The team laughed.

  
  


•×∙─────────∙◦✖◦∙────────∙×•

  
  


The others suited up and prepared to fly down to Uryonin. They piled the supplies into their lions and Coran talked their ears off about the history of the planet.

Lance remained in his seat in the bridge and bounced his leg. He’d been thinking of what to get the others, but hadn’t settled on anything.

He had ideas of what they’d want, but who knew what he’d be able to find at the space mall?

“Hey, Lance,” Lance looked up.

Keith stood in front of him in his paladin armor. It clanked against the floor as he shuffled on his feet. “I just… wanted to make sure you’re okay…. I know you hate staying behind when the rest of us are on a mission…” Keith shrugged jerkily and avoided Lance’s gaze.

Warmth bloomed in Lance’s chest and he knew he had the fondest expression on his face, but he didn’t care if the others saw.

He’d happily listen to Pidge’s teasing, Hunk’s cooing, deal with Shiro’s head shakes, and Coran’s and Allura’s smug smirks if it meant he could get closer to Keith like this all the time.

Lance smiled and said softly, “Ah, este chico,” He shook his head and chuckled. “I’m… I’m okay, thanks.”

_Yeah,_ Lance thought as Keith dragged his eyes back to Lance’s and, with a glance behind himself as if to see if Lance’s stare was directed at someone else (as if Lance could look at anyone like that™), shyly grinned at Lance as his cheeks turned red. _Just stay like this forever…_

The urge to wrap his arms around Keith was so strong at that moment he nearly gave in. Lance suspected Keith wouldn’t have minded either.

“It’s time to go, gays!” Pidge called from the elevator that would take her down to her lion.

Lance and Keith startled and mumbled out goodbyes.

When the Lions departed from the castle, Lance, Allura, and Coran stuck the decorations they made onto the walls of the holodeck.

“At least if I can’t find any lights we can use the holograms of the stars. That’d be pretty cool, huh, Coran?”

“Yes, indeed, m’boy!”

When they finished Allura asked Lance what else they needed to do.

“Well, we still need a tree. Can we cut one down on Hrimsa?” Lance asked.

“Oh, I’ll do it!” Lance thought Allura seemed a little too excited, but figured with her strength she’d have an easy time hauling it into the castle.

“Okay, if you’ve got that covered, Princess, I guess I’ll get the presents and Coran can look for more decorations? We usually put some on the tree too.”

Coran saluted him and the two Alteans rushed to get started.

  
  


•×∙─────────∙◦✖◦∙────────∙×•

  
  


One wormhole jump later, Lance and Coran split up when they arrived at the space mall.

Lance had told Coran the kind of ornaments that go on the Christmas tree as they flew down and Allura grumbled about having to stay in the castle.

_Okay, Lance, no pressure. Just have to look around._ The money Allura gave him jingled in his pocket. Lance knew Pidge’s present would be the easiest to get.

He traveled to the Earth store they’d bought Killbot Phantasm at and looked around. Lance figured he could probably find something for everyone here, but wanted to get something cool for them.

Lance found an alien game that weirdly enough seemed to be made for the system they’d bought here. _Perfect,_ Lance thought.

Pidge will love to translate it, and he knew she’d have even more fun beating him at it.

One down, five to go.

Lance meandered around the Earth store for a bit longer. He thought that Coran might enjoy something from Earth. He already knew everything about the universe, so Lance couldn’t just get him a book or something. But what would Coran actually like? Maybe sewing supplies? Didn’t he make the costumes they wore here last time himself?

Lance sighed. Coran did so much for the team, but Lance had no idea what he’d want as a gift…

He should have asked Allura—

Wait! He can ask Allura!

Lance scrambled for his holopad.

“Allura!” He said when her face lit up the screen. “What does Coran like?”

Allura blinked a few times, then got a thoughtful look. “Well, he was always fond of Eovi tea. He’d always drink it with my mother in their free time.”

“Tea? Do you think I could find that here?” Lance worried it would be too expensive — too fancy to find in a mall.

Allura laughed. “Oh, I bet you could!” She shook her head with a smile. “My father always made fun of my mother and Coran, saying they had awful tastes. He could never stand that kind, and neither could I.”

Lance smiled and listened to her talk more about the time she, her parents, and Coran tasted all sorts of tea in the garden and made fun of each other’s favorites as he looked around the shop more. After Allura hung up he spotted something red.

Lance was reminded of Keith and wondered what he should get him. The thought made Lance bite his lip. He’d considered the usual; a new knife, another pair of stupid fingerless gloves. Lane even thought about getting Keith an _actual_ jacket just so he could play it off as a joke if he got too embarrassed, but… Lance didn’t want that.

This was supposed to be a good Christmas. As good as they could have it in space.

When Lance stepped closer to the red thing his jaw dropped. It was a hippo. A red, stuffed hippo.

The sight of it caused a distant memory to flood Lance’s mind — one Lance had briefly caught a glimpse of through Voltron’s connection. A rugged man giving a red, stuffed hippo to a baby Keef.

Lance smiled and picked up the hippo. It was soft, nearly identical to the one in Keith’s memory. But would Keith really want it? He was really embarrassed when the team cooed at him over the memory…

Lance noticed a line in the stomach and ran his thumb over it. When he inspected it he saw it was the same kind of small, barely there zipper the paladin suits had.

It opened up to a small pouch. Lance smirked. It reminded him of the countless animal backpacks Veronica had bought when she was in middle school.

Lance humored himself with the image of Keith stuffing his knife into the hippo’s pouch as he paid for the items.

Lance left the shop with a bounce in his step.

Now, he needed to find a tea shop and hope they had the kind Coran liked. Maybe he could pick up something there for Hunk?

Lance had thought about getting Hunk a recipe book. Maybe something about spices since Hunk knew so much about Earth spices?

When Lance entered what he thought must be a tea shop his nose twitched. The aroma was thick, almost tart. It smelled kind of like cranberry juice?

He stepped up to the counter. “Uh, hi, do you have any um, Eovi tea?” Did aliens use tea bags or…?

The alien behind the counter nodded and shuffled to a shelf.

The shop was quiet, the décor simple.

Bottles and containers with various symbols lined the shelves behind the counter. Lance drummed his fingers on the surface of the counter as he waited. There didn’t seem to be much here aside from tea.

The alien shuffled back with a cylinder-like container and handed it to Lance without a word. 

After Lance bought Coran’s gifts, he walked around the mall and peered into windows. He came across a shop he could best describe as an alien Bath and Body Works. Lance fought the desire to buy himself some new face creams.

Lance found some muscle relaxing cream he thought Shiro would appreciate. He’d caught sight of their leader rubbing at his shoulder too many times for Lance to pass it up.

As Lance put the cream in his basket he wondered what else he should get Shiro. He didn’t talk often about his life on Earth and Lance wasn’t sure what kind of hobbies he had other than working himself to death.

Lance bit his lip. Keith would know, but if he had asked it wouldn’t be a surprise…. But Lance didn’t want to get anyone anything they wouldn’t like…

Lance bought the cream and some facials for Allura. Lance got a call from Coran on the holopad to meet him in the food court. Lance made his way there and hoped he’d find something better for Shiro on the way.

When Lance arrived and saw Coran with bags and… something like tinsel garland in his arms Lance stopped dead. He gazed at the mass of coils in Coran’s arms. It was oddly… flesh colored and it... pulsated??

Okay, that's enough of what Coran bought.

The two decided to leave the mall after that. Lance was tired from shopping and still had no idea what to get Shiro. Plus, he was running out of money.

They returned to the castle and showed Allura the ornaments Coran bought. There were silver bells that let out long, painfully high-pitched trills when rattled, round objects on strings that looked like regular baubles at first, but were wildly vibrant colors that.... growled?

Lance stowed the gifts in his room and used the strangely silky wrapping paper Coran bought to wrap the ones he has.

The next day during breakfast, after a call from the team to check in, Lance asked Allura what she thought Shiro might like.

“Well, he’s always interested in the history and cultures of the planets we visit.” Allura said thoughtfully. Lance couldn’t bring himself to tell her that was likely because _she_ was the one telling him about it.

It did give Lance an idea of what Shiro might like though, so when Lance wandered through the mall later that day he came across a little gadget he figured Shiro would enjoy whether or not he was really interested in alien history.

It was a small device, kind of like a wrist watch, that showed holograms of the planet you were on and gave a short list of fun facts. It also scanned various alien objects and said what they were used for. It was practical, so Lance was sure Shiro would at least find it useful. 

Near that shop he found a jewelry store and knew he’d be able to find Allura’s next gift.

_Should I get her a necklace? No… that’d only get in the way… she already has earrings… a bracelet?_

There was a thick golden bracelet near the front of the glass case.

“Ah, you have fine tastes,” The shopkeep said. Lance jumped and stared around. Who said —?

“Oh,” Lance breathed out, relieved.

The storeowner was a squat alien whose head was just barely level with the counter.

“Yes, a beauty, no? A fine choice for engagement,”

Lance started. “No, no! That’s not what I’m here for! I’m just looking for gifts!”

The alien’s forehead moved upwards, so Lance assumed they’d raised their nonexistent eyebrow at him. “Very well, please see if these are more to your liking,” The alien gestured to the case along the wall in the back of the shop.

There was a thin, silver band that caught Lance’s eye when he went over.

A pale pink opal-like stone sat in the middle. It was pretty enough. And sparkly. “Uh, what about this one?” He didn’t want to know what Allura would do to him if he bought her some kind of engagement bracelet thing.

“Ah, for someone special, I see? A Grigyl charm is a sign of great respect,”

Hmm. That _sounded_ good. Lance made like he was staring around and scanned the bracelet with Shiro’s… whatever device. 

_Gifted to those of high caliber…_

Yep. Checked out. Wait the stone was mined from the inside of what—?

“Uh, yeah, yeah, I’ll take that.” Lance said and hastily stowed Shiro’s gift behind his back.

Lance looked around the shop more as the cashier carefully pulled Allura’s bracelet out.

Everything in the shop sparkled. Lance scanned a few more accessories with Shiro’s watch thing when a description caught his eye.

_The balance helps calm the wearer…_

Lance glanced up and saw a necklace.

Overall in comparison to everything else in the shop, the necklace was nothing special. Just a simple jagged, pale orange stone held by a silver chain. “What’s the deal with this?” Lance asked.

“Ah,” The alien waddled over. “An _Xeinya._ A very good choice.” The alien slowly removed the necklace from the case and held it by its chain above the counter. “Touch the stone.”

Lance poked it. The effect was immediate. It felt like everything stopped. His breath came out easier, slower. When he took his hand away it felt like a trance was lifted.

“Calms the mind and body. Good for those in high stress occupations,”

“I’ll take it!” Lance said. _Found Hunk’s gift!_

Hopefully it would help him. He’d been on edge more lately since he’d finally used the last of his anxiety meds, poor guy. 

The alien let out a garbled sound Lance thought was a laugh and placed the necklace in a package next to Allura’s gift. Lance peered around the shop excitedly. He wondered what else was here.

Then, Lance saw something red. 

Compelled to see what it was he stepped closer. Everything else in the shop was sparkly, with bright, pale colors. This was a dark, deep scarlet.

It was a single stone. Nothing engraved in it. It wasn’t even set inside a ring, or attached to a chain.

“What’s this?” Lance asked quietly, his eyes locked onto it.

“An Oemra stone. Highly sought after by lovers,” The alien pulled on thick gloves and reached for the stone. “It must be handled very carefully. The stone is highly sensitive to touch. The first person to touch it, you see, leaves an imprint on it — they become connected to it. When they have their _lover_ touch it, though,” They cracked a smile. “The holder can feel their lover’s heartbeat, no matter the distance.”

The alien made to put it back. “But you don’t want that.”

“I — I do!” Lance blurted out.

The alien cackled.

  
  


•×∙─────────∙◦✖◦∙────────∙×•

  
  


Lance sat in his room, bottom lip between his teeth, cheeks flushed hotly, as he wrapped the last of the gifts.

It was a spur of the moment decision to buy the Oemra stone. A stupid decision. He couldn’t just _give_ Keith the stone without telling him its deal, but it was... _romantic._

Lance groaned and put his face in his hands.

And he’d put the stone in the hippo.

Great. Wonderful. Why did he do this to himself?

He’d made careful care to place the stone gently in the pouch of the hippo. He’d worn the thick gloves the shopkeep gave him, careful not to let the stone touch any part of his skin.

“Lance! Come to the holodeck immediately!” Allura yelled over the intercom.

Lance jumped out of bed and bounded down the halls. When he ran through the doors he skidded to a halt.

The lights were low. Allura and Coran stood by the wall. They gazed at Lance happily as he took everything in.

The countless stars and planets from the hologram floated around the room. They cast a dim light over everything; the walls, the paper decorations they made, even some of the weird tinsel that was hung on the walls and… okay gross, but everything else looked great!

“Wow,” Lance said softly.

Allura clapped her hands and giggled. “Good? As good as a Human Crizms?”

Lance smiled. “Yeah…”

A sudden ping rang through the air. They each froze.

Allura screeched. “They cannot be done yet! They can’t! I still haven’t gotten the tree!”

Lance flapped his arms. “Well — well go to the bridge and answer them! They can’t see!”

“Right! But, Lonce, you’ll need to distract them when they return!”

Lance nodded numbly as the princess darted out of the room.

  
  


•×∙─────────∙◦✖◦∙────────∙×•

  
  


They let out a breath. Quiznaking Pidge and Hunk and their intelligence. Of course they’d finish so quickly. Keith was probably restless from standing around as they geeked out.

Lance breathed in. “Okay, it’s fine. They already know we’re going to Hrimsa. I’ll distract them when we get there, while you two,” He pointed at Allura and Coran. “Cut down the tree and decorate it.” They nodded enthusiastically.

“Man, I wish we could’ve had cookies…”

When they arrived at Uryonin Hunk and Pidge immediately started to spout off all kinds of tech talk Lance didn’t understand.

Shiro smiled at them and made his way to talk to Allura, but she scurried out of the room while Coran headed towards the kitchen.

“She’s just taking us to Hrimsa,” Lance said and directed Shiro and the others to the lounge. “Come on, space dad, relaaaax.”

The castle landed on the snowy planet a few minutes later and seemed to sink into the snow a bit upon first landing. The team gazed out at the window. The landscape was covered in snow. It whipped against the windows with dull _thunks._

The trees were tall. They looked similar to pine trees from Earth, but were dark blue shades. The Leaves were a dull, navy blue, and the trunks a murky steel color, but Lance didn’t care. The excitement bubbled in his chest at the thought of the team’s faces when they saw the holodeck.

“So guys, what do you —“

He bit his tongue. There, outside the window, were Allura and Coran. Hacking at a tree. Oh, now they were dragging it across the ground, leaving a noticeable trail in the snow.

They caught sight of Lance staring at them through the window. He motioned for them to hurry up. Coran jumped and looked around himself wildly. He dived behind the tree trunk and laid in the snow. Allura panicked and sat on the trunk and twiddled her thumbs.

“Are you okay, bro?” Hunk asked Lance.

“Y-yeah! Hey, come to my room and see what I made!” Lance hurriedly gestured to Allura to move as best he could without the others noticing. Allura gave him a thumbs up and grasped the top of the tree. She flung it across the ground. Coran slid along behind it on his stomach as he held onto the end.

“It’s not some weird shrine to Allura, is it?” Pidge asked.

Keith made to look behind himself out the window — Lance flung his arms around Keith’s neck.

They blinked at each other with wide eyes. Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro gaped at them.

“N-no! Now come on, you quiznakers!”

Lance pulled Keith along out of the room and fought down the scorching blush in his cheeks.

Keith followed without complaint.

When they reached his room, Lance let go of Keith and darted in.

His heart stopped; the presents! Lance dashed to the gifts and scooped them up.

_What do I do with them????_

He heard the swish of his door and dropped the presents on his bed and pulled his blanket over them.

“Lance, what're you—“

Lance threw Keith’s sweater into his face.

With a glance at the bulky mound of gifts, Lance grabbed the other sweaters, stuffed the mice’s into his pocket, and pushed Keith out of his room.

Keith let out muffled grumbles as he struggled to rip the garment off his face. Pidge snickered as she, Hunk, and Shiro strolled over to them.

“Lance!” Keith snapped when he finally ripped the sweater away from his face, his cheeks as red as his sweater.

“What are you two up to?” Shiro smirked.

“Yeah, and what’s that smell?” Hunk asked as he sniffed the air.

They all paused. There was a hint of something burning in the air. It was very faint, but —

Coran darted down the hall towards the kitchen. Oh, god, Coran was _cooking_ something???

Lance threw each sweater into the other’s faces before they could see. He even grabbed Keith’s and smacked it into his face again.

“Look! I made you all sweaters!” He squawked as Coran ran past the hall again, stopped, backed up, and gave Lance a wide smile and a thumbs up with one hand as the other held a tray of… something. He turned and left.

Lance groaned as the others tore the sweaters away from their faces.

“Ooooh, soft!” Hunk said as he ran his thumb over the materiel. “Is that why you stayed in your room all that time?”

Lance nodded sheepishly.

Pidge looked at the sweater. “What’s the deal?” Her eyes narrowed. “Did you break—?”

“I didn’t break anything!” Lance pouted.

Hunk rubbed his face on his sweater, while Keith gazed down at it in awe.

“That’s nice of you, Lance.” Shiro smiled. Lance beamed.

“Oh, look! I made some for the mice too!” Lance pulled the tiny sweaters out and showed them.

Hunk cooed, then sniffed. “Wait, that smells stronger.”

Lance panicked. “I don’t smell anything.”

“No… I think it’s coming from there?”

Lance shoved the mice sweaters back into his pocket. “I-I’ll go check it out!” He darted ahead of them. “Allura!” He whispered loudly when he nearly ran into her.

“Oh, Lonce, good,” She smiled. “We’re almost done. Do you think you could distract the others for a few dobashes longer? We are having a bit of —” There was a loud crash in from the door behind her. “Difficulty.”

Lance nodded. The team’s voices could be heard coming from the hall. Allura scurried into the holodeck while Lance ran to the team and threw his arms around Keith’s and Hunk’s necks and spun them around.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. Just Coran’s — tea! Yeah! You know how he loves his crazy alien tea! Hey — you know what we should do?” Lance forced them to walk with him. “We should have a snowball fight! Yeah, and you guys can wear your new sweaters!” Lance jumped in front of them and gave them the best puppy eyes he could manage under so much stress.

“Well, that does sound fun…” Shiro said with an uncertain smile.

  
  


•×∙─────────∙◦✖◦∙────────∙×•

  
  


With the suits designed to protect them from the cold vacuum of space they didn’t need to wear much more than that, but they each wore their new sweaters over the paladin under suits (Lance changed into his own and wore his jacket over it).

They ran around throwing snowballs at each other’s faces. Lance was pleased to see the grins on everyone’s faces as Hunk and Pidge scooped up armfuls of snow and stuffed it down Shiro’s sweater as he screeched and flailed around as much as he could while Keith held him still.

Sometime later Allura and Coran shuffled out of the castle and joined them. They winked at Lance and looked surprise when Lance tossed them their sweaters. They smiled and pulled them over the Altean winter wear that they were bundled up in. The outfits matched their usual clothes, but it made them look poufy like clouds.

After they showed Allura and Coran how to build a snow man and attempted to give it Altean ears with the thick leaves from the trees, the team made their way back inside.

Coran darted ahead.

“To the holodeck, Paladins!” Allura exclaimed and gestured them forwards eagerly.

The team shared a confused look, but Lance smiled. _This is it!_

Lance ran to his room to get the presents and change while Allura led the others down the hall. Lance piled the gifts into his arms and sprinted to the holodeck. When he got there he stopped and gazed around again at the stars and planets.

Allura and Coran had decorated the tree with the weird tinsel and ornaments Coran bought. There were a number of squishy, low, round chairs scattered around. They even set up a table that had the tray of Coran’s burnt cookies set. Coran was pouring a thick, brown liquid into tea cups set along the table.

“What’s that, Coran?” Lance asked breathlessly as he kneeled down in front of the tree and stacked the presents underneath.

“Afrideel!” Coran said. “It’s the last we have from Altea. It’s not quite the same, but it’s a sweet beverage that sounded a bit like that hot cucu you spoke of!”

Lance smiled. His chest felt warm and light.

The door swooshed open and he turned. The team walked in, their mouths agape.

Allura hopped in front of them and giggled. “Surprise! Merry Chitzmes, Paladins!”

They gazed around at the stars, the decorations, the tree. The flush on their noses and cheeks from the cold clashed with the light of the holograms.

“You guys did all this?” Shiro asked.

“Yep! It was all number three’s idea!” Coran chirped.

Lance started when everyone’s eyes were suddenly on him. “W-well, you know… Pidge figured it was around December back on Earth and I just thought…” He shrugged.

Hunk stomped over to Lance and crushed him to his chest. “Bro!" He cried. “I love you!”

Lance laughed and squeezed him back. “You know you’re the light of my life, man!”

Pidge squeezed herself in between them. “You’re such a nerd, you know?” She told Lance with a huge smile on her face.

Shiro wrapped his arms around Lance’s and Hunk’s shoulders. “You guys really went all out here,” Shiro said, still taking everything in. He looked back at Lance. “Thank you, Lance. It’s… been a while since I’ve celebrated Christmas.” He smiled happily.

Keith shuffled over and patted Pidge on the head before Hunk grabbed him and pulled him into the center of the group hug. Keith struggled and blushed, but settled down when Allura and Coran draped themselves around Shiro and Lance.

“It has been wonderful learning so much about Earth!” Allura said. “Oh, now you must open your presents, Paladins!” She pulled away and clapped her hands.

Shiro laughed. “Presents? Haven’t you guys done enough?”

Lance smiled.

The team pushed the squishy seats closer to the tree as Lance handed the gifts around.

Coran gave everyone a cup and shoved the tray of burnt cookies under their noses until they took one.

Lance sipped at his drink while the others opened their gifts excitedly. It had a thick, syrupy feel that made him drowsy and warm, but it was almost too sweet so Lance busied himself with dressing the mice in their new sweaters while the sounds of ripping paper scratched at his ears.

“Fuck yeah!” Pidge exclaimed as she gazed at her new game.

“Katie, language.” Shiro said.

“Quiznak yeah!”

Allura and Coran gasped.

Shiro shook his head and opened his gift. “The cream is good for muscle pains — helps you relax,” Lance explained as he scratched his cheek. “And the watch thing scans stuff and tells you facts about them, and a bit of the history of the planet you’re on.”

Shiro smiled widely at the watch and strapped it around his wrist. “Thank you, Lance.”

“Yeah, thanks, nerd.” Pidge said without looking up from her game. Lance grinned.

Allura opened her gift and gasped. She put a hand to her mouth. “A Grigyl charm!” She stood, walked over to Lance, and hugged him. “Thank you, Lance. I wouldn’t have expected this from you.”

“Yeah, well,” Lance said as she sat back down and slid the band over her hand. “You’re like, one of the strongest people I know.”

She smiled gratefully at him.

A loud gasp caught everyone’s attention.

They looked at Coran who held his gift in the air like it was a prized possession. “Eovi tea!” He teared up. “Thank you, m’boy!” He yanked Lance into a suffocating hug.

Hunk grinned at the scene and pulled out his necklace.

“Oh!” Coran released Lance from his deathly strong grip. “An Xeinya! You’re quite lucky, number two!” Coran waggled his finger at Hunk.

“It helps with like, anxiety and stuff. Dunno how, though.” Lance explained as Hunk draped the necklace over his head.

“Wooooooah,” Hunk drawled. He slumped back into his seat and remained quiet. The others laughed at his blissed out expression.

“Your turn, Ketih!” Pidge wiggled her eyebrows at him.

He glared at her and opened his gift. His mouth dropped open, but he said nothing, just started at it.

Lance bit his lip, his stomach in knots. “Y-ya like it? It’s waaaaaay cooler than just a hippo, you know. It’s not like I’m even capable of getting anyone lame gifts!” He rambled.

Pidge rolled her eyes and smirked. Shiro looked almost teary-eyed as he smiled at the two of them.

“See the zipper on the stomach? Open it.” 

As Keith did so and pulled out the stone he gasped. It glowed brightly, then returned to its deep red color.

Lance barely heard Allura's and Coran's gasp over his pounding heart.

"It’s, uh… an Oemra stone.” Lance rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re connected to it now. You — you have someone... _important_ to you touch it and you’ll be able to feel their heart beat when you hold it.”

Heat rose in Lance’s face. It was made worse by how fast Pidge wiggled her eyebrows at him, which he also ignored. Lance’s eyes were focused on Keith.

Keith closed his fingers around the stone and clutched the hippo to his chest. “Thank you, Lance.” He said softly and smiled at Lance with so much happiness in his eyes Lance thought he died and went to heaven.

“You’re such a nerd!” Pidge cackled and nudged his knee with her foot.

“Aw, but, bro!” Hunk sat up suddenly. “We didn’t get you anything!” He looked on the verge of tears.

“Um, if you really wanna give me something,” Lance leaned closer and spoke out of the corner of his mouth. “You can make some more cookies.” Hunk nodded seriously and dashed off to the kitchen. The rest laughed.

“Oh, number two! Baking again? I can show you my grandpappy’s recipe!” Coran called as he chased after Hunk down the hall.

“Oh, Shiro,” Allura shifted closer to him. “Lonce told me to ask you how Humans perform the custom ‘Missltoh’. He said you’d be happy to show me how.”

Shiro’s face erupted into flames. He stuttered, but Allura stood and pulled him up by the hand. “No time to waste, Shiro! Lonce assured me it’s an excellent bonding experience!”

Lance, Pidge, and Keith sniggered as Shiro gaped at them, wide-eyed, as he was hauled out of the room.

Pidge jumped up and strolled out after them. “Guess you wanna teach Keith that custom too, Lover Boy?" Pidge quipped as she passed.

Lance sounded like a fax machine as she cackled and left. He and Keith were alone, surrounded by the stars. It was quiet between them.

Keith clutched his hippo tighter to his chest. “That was really… great of you to do, Lance.”

“What, set Shiro and Allura up? Nah, not really. We all know he’s been wanting to nibble on dem ears since they met.”

Keith chocked on a laugh and covered his face with his hippo. “You know what I mean,” He said when he recovered. He gazed at Lance, his dark eyes flickered back and forth between Lance’s blue ones. He stared at the way the light of the holograms made Lance’s eyes sparkle.

Keith stood and Lance did the same, unthinking.

Keith squeezed his hippo, his eyes darted to the side. “Do you — is there even any mistletoe in space?”

The snow was still in sprinkled in Keith’s hair, but Lance’s attention was more focused on Keith’s face; the adorable flush in his cheeks, the red in the tips of his ears, the stars reflected in his eyes, the upward curve of his plump lips…

Then Lance remembered Keith had asked him something.

“I — I guess not.” Lance’s heart raced. “Do you… really like your gift?”

Keith smiled that same dazzling smile that Lance wished he could see forever.

“I do.” Keith whispered.

They stared at each other, the air around them buzzed.

“I… feel bad, though. You’ve done so much for us,” Keith said.

Lance shrugged. “I wanted to. Besides, Hunk is making cookies!” He grinned.

Keith smiled back and took a step closer. “Still… you always do so much for us. Ever since we got into space… I — want to do something for you…”

Lance swallowed thickly. “Okay.” He squeaked out.

Keith smiled again and closed the distance between them.

_So soft_ , Lance thought. _Really soft…_

Lance’s lips tingled. His heart thrashed in his chest.

His chest felt so _full._ So _warm._

It took a minute, or an hour, but Lance's attention drifted from the kiss to something smooth near his wrist. He pulled away slightly and glanced down to see the Oemra stone against his pulse. The stone sparkled in rapid succession, matching his pulse.

Lance looked up and locked eyes with Keith.

“Merry Christmas, Keith.”

“Merry Christmas, Lance.”

They kissed again as the stars floated around them.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas~! 🎄


End file.
